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{{other people|Wilson}}
{{other people|Wilson}}
'''Andrew Norman Wilson''' (born 27 October 1950) is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and former columnist for the London ''[[Evening Standard]]'', and has been an occasional contributor to the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'', ''[[New Statesman]]'', ''[[The Spectator]]'' and ''[[The Observer]]''. In 2006, he was the victim of a notable literary hoax played by [[Bevis Hillier]].
'''Andrew Norman Wilson''' (born 27 October 1950) is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' and former columnist for the London ''[[Evening Standard]]'', and has been an occasional contributor to the ''[[Times Literary Supplement]]'', ''[[New Statesman]]'', ''[[The Spectator]]'' and ''[[The Observer]]''.


==Life and work==
==Life and work==
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Wilson has a reputation, gained early in his career, of being a '[[young fogey]]'. He holds controversial views and presents them to entertaining effect, for example in repeated appearances on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Any Questions]]''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgvj BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Any Questions?]</ref>
Wilson has a reputation, gained early in his career, of being a '[[young fogey]]'. He holds controversial views and presents them to entertaining effect, for example in repeated appearances on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Any Questions]]''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgvj BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Any Questions?]</ref>


Wilson has been occasionally criticised for his prose style. Nevertheless, his 2007 novel ''Winnie and Wolf'' was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. His non-fiction has been widely praised. [[Kathryn Hughes]] described his 2002 book The Victorians as "a magnificent achievement: plucky, engaged and full of awe at the way we continue to live out its inheritance today".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/aug/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview5 | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=High seriousness with a light touch | first=Kathryn | last=Hughes | date=2002-08-31}}</ref>
Wilson has been occasionally criticized for his prose style. Nevertheless, his 2007 novel ''Winnie and Wolf'' was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. His non-fiction has been widely praised. [[Kathryn Hughes]] described his 2002 book The Victorians as "a magnificent achievement: plucky, engaged and full of awe at the way we continue to live out its inheritance today".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/aug/31/featuresreviews.guardianreview5 | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=High seriousness with a light touch | first=Kathryn | last=Hughes | date=2002-08-31}}</ref>





== Libel claims and retractions ==
== Libel claims and retractions ==
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==Betjeman letter hoax==
==Betjeman letter hoax==
In August 2006, Wilson's biography of Sir [[John Betjeman]] was published. It was then discovered that he had been the victim of a hoax and had included a letter (to Anglo-Irish writer, [[Honor Tracy]]), which purported to be by Betjeman detailing a previously unknown love affair, but which he acknowledged to be a fiction, when it was pointed out that it contained an [[acrostic]] spelling out an insulting message to him.<ref name="hoax">{{cite news
In August 2006, Wilson's biography of Sir [[John Betjeman]] was published. It was then discovered that he had been the victim of a hoax.
| last = Brooks
| first = Richard
| title = Betjeman love letter is horrid hoax
| publisher = The Sunday Times
| date = 2006-08-27
| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2330457,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-08-28 | location=London}}</ref>
The letter was sent to Wilson by "Eve de Harben", who then wrote to a journalist to reveal the hoax. The acrostic spelt out "''AN Wilson is a shit''" and "Eve de Harben" is an anagram of "''Ever been had''". [[Bevis Hillier]], Wilson's archrival and Betjeman's authorised biographer, was an immediate suspect but initially denied all knowledge. A week after the hoax was publicised, however, Hillier admitted responsibility, stating that "When a newspaper started billing Wilson's book as 'the big one', it was just too much."<ref name="hoax-confession">{{cite news
| last = Brooks
| first = Richard
| title = Betjeman biographer confesses to literary hoax
| publisher = The Sunday Times
| date = 2006-09-03
| url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2340567,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-05 | location=London}}</ref>

Wilson later claimed that he has struck back with a hidden message of his own in a reprinting of the book that has yet to be discovered.<ref name="wilson reply">{{cite news
Wilson later claimed that he has struck back with a hidden message of his own in a reprinting of the book that has yet to be discovered.<ref name="wilson reply">{{cite news
| last = Marre
| last = Marre

Revision as of 03:04, 18 October 2011

For other people named Wilson, see Wilson (disambiguation).

Andrew Norman Wilson (born 27 October 1950) is an English writer and newspaper columnist, known for his critical biographies, novels, works of popular history and religious views. He is an occasional columnist for the Daily Mail and former columnist for the London Evening Standard, and has been an occasional contributor to the Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.

Life and work

Wilson was educated at Rugby School and New College, Oxford. Destined originally for ordination in the Church of England, Wilson entered St Stephen's House, the High Church theological hall at Oxford but left at the end of his first year.

In the late 1980s he publicly stated that he was an atheist and published a pamphlet Against Religion in the Chatto & Windus CounterBlasts series; however, religious and ecclesiological themes continue to inform his work. In April 2009 he published an article in the Daily Mail affirming his rediscovery of faith, attacking at the same time both academic and media atheists.[1]

He has covered his particular slant on biography and, to some extent his take on the Victorian era topics, in God's Funeral and The Victorians, which can be traced to this religious ambivalence. His books on Leo Tolstoy (Whitbread Award for best biography of 1988), C. S. Lewis, Hilaire Belloc, and Jesus Christ are all simultaneously sympathetic to and critical of religious belief.

Wilson has a reputation, gained early in his career, of being a 'young fogey'. He holds controversial views and presents them to entertaining effect, for example in repeated appearances on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions.[2]

Wilson has been occasionally criticized for his prose style. Nevertheless, his 2007 novel Winnie and Wolf was longlisted for the Man Booker prize. His non-fiction has been widely praised. Kathryn Hughes described his 2002 book The Victorians as "a magnificent achievement: plucky, engaged and full of awe at the way we continue to live out its inheritance today".[3]



Libel claims and retractions

After Life in the Freezer was broadcast, Wilson, then a television reviewer for The Independent, wrote a column accusing the production team of staging a harrowing sequence in which a leopard seal killed and dismembered a young penguin. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted.

Alastair Fothergill responded by threatening to sue. In a private settlement, Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. The Independent also paid an undisclosed sum of money, which Fothergill and David Attenborough donated to a fund for the penguins of the Falkland Islands.

Wilson had made similar claims about Attenborough's previous series, The Trials of Life, regarding the filming of the Malleefowl and been forced to retract those as well.

Betjeman letter hoax

In August 2006, Wilson's biography of Sir John Betjeman was published. It was then discovered that he had been the victim of a hoax. Wilson later claimed that he has struck back with a hidden message of his own in a reprinting of the book that has yet to be discovered.[4]

Notes and references

  1. ^ A. N. Wilson (2009-04-11). "Religion of hatred: Why we should no longer be cowed by the chattering classes ruling Britain who sneer at Christianity". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2009-07-09. See also Wilson's slightly earlier article in the New Stateman, Why I believe again 02 April 2009.
  2. ^ BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - Any Questions?
  3. ^ Hughes, Kathryn (2002-08-31). "High seriousness with a light touch". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ Marre, Oliver (2006-09-10). "Pendennis". London: The Observer. Retrieved 2006-09-11.

Bibliography

Non-fiction

  • The Laird of Abbotsford: A view of Sir Walter Scott (1980)
  • The Life of John Milton A Biography
  • Hilaire Belloc: A Biography (1985)
  • How Can We Know? (1985)
  • Penfriends from Porlock
  • Tolstoy: A Biography (1988)
  • C. S. Lewis: A Biography (1990)
  • Against Religion: Why we should live without it (1991)
  • Jesus: A Life (1992)
  • The Rise and Fall of the House of Windsor published by Sinclair Stephenson (London) in (1993).
  • Paul: The mind of the Apostle (1997)
  • God's Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western Civilization (1999)
  • The Victorians (2002)
  • Iris Murdoch As I Knew Her (2003)
  • London: A Short History (2004)
  • After the Victorians (2005)
  • Betjeman (2006)
  • Our Times (2008)

Fiction

  • The Sweets of Pimlico (1977)
  • Unguarded Hours (1978)
  • Kindly Light (1979)
  • The Healing Art (1980)
  • Who Was Oswald Fish? (1981)
  • Wise Virgin (1982)
  • Scandal (1983)
  • Gentlemen in England (1983)
  • Love Unknown (1986)
  • Stray (1987)
  • The Vicar of Sorrows (1993)
  • Dream Children (1998)
  • My Name Is Legion (2004)
  • A Jealous Ghost (2005)
  • Winnie and Wolf (2007) (Longlisted for the 2007 Man Booker Prize)

A novel sequence referred to as The Lampitt Chronicles:

    • Incline Our Hearts (1988)
    • A Bottle in the Smoke (1990)
    • Daughters of Albion (1991)
    • Hearing Voices (1995)
    • A Watch in the Night (1996)

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